Secret Trio: An Introduction
by NoSignalBlueScreen
Summary: A terrible vision of the future lingers in Clockwork's mind as he makes the appropriate adjustments needed to bring together three very unique young men and their very unique teams. A possible way that Danny, Randy, and Jake could've met. This is a test, I want to know if I've improved with writing these characters. It'll still be a while before I write the main story. Three-shot.
1. The American Dragon

**A big hello to everyone! To all the readers that like my Danny Phantom stuff and are interested in my eventual dive into the Secret Trio fandom, welcome.**

 **So this story is half a celebration of me finally getting around to finishing both seasons of American Dragon Jake Long as well as both seasons of Randy Cunningham Ninth Grade Ninja. It's a bittersweet feeling just like finishing any series is.**

 **The other half is that this is going to act like a Prequel/Preview thing to my eventual Secret Trio story. Well, probably more like a test run than a Prequel. It will still be a bit before I can write the actual story, given that I'm still working on Pondus Omnium and Master Challenge.**

 **Okay, we're almost done, just a few notes:**

 **Danny's physiology may change depending on the type of story or crossover I'm writing with him in it. This is just something to be mindful of, especially for those that have read my Pondus Omnium story.**

 **This oneshot takes place after Hong Kong Longs.**

 **I believe I'm going to use Season 2's designs of the characters. I think I like them better, and yeah even the dragon designs too. I thought I would end up using a mix of the two seasons, but I eventually grew attached to Season 2's designs.**

 **I couldn't find Haley's age so I'm putting her at 8 in Season One and 9 in season two. (The oldest she could be is 10, since she appears to be in elementary school, seeing as Jake drops her off at a different building.)**

 **As a final note, I have finished American Dragon and RC9GN, but I'm still working on memorizing and really familiarizing myself with all lore of both shows like I have Danny Phantom. So if I happen to make some sort of mistake politely tell me and I'll see what I can do.**

 **Okay I think that's all. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm so proud of you, Jake-a-roo!"

Jake gave a shy and slightly awkward smile at his father's excitement. The young dragon gave a more sincere smile before nodding happily. "Thanks, dad." The teen then turned to try and shove the last of his things into his suitcase and ended up turning his arms into dragon arms and forcing the bag shut.

His family and two best friends, Spud and Trixie were all standing around and waiting. Lao Shi and Fu dog were actually absent, but he would be meeting up with them shortly. Today was a big day. He was heading to the Island of Draco to receive his full title over all of America, more specifically the U.S. Up until now, he'd only had reign over New York and temporary reign over any given area in the U.S. when he'd traveled. Two more years of dragon training since the final battle with the Dark Dragon in Hong Kong had passed and his Gramps and the Council believed him to finally be strong enough in mind, body, and spirit to have this greater responsibility put upon him, even if his Gramps wasn't done training him.

"It's such a shame we aren't invited. I wanted to be able to dump cool-aid or something over your head." Spud sighed as though a terrible crime was to be committed.

"Boy, you do realize that's kinda a sports thing, right?" Trixie asked, raising a brow high.

"Protecting magical creatures could be considered a contact sport," Spud mumbled.

"Just make sure you don't make a complete and utter fool of yourself!" Haley perked up, never dropping her cheer.

"Gee, thanks." Jake rolled his eyes and snorted. He'd eventually gotten to the point were Haley's jabs didn't annoy him much anymore. He gave his little sister a wink. "I'll keep that in mind."

Jake pulled his suitcase off his bed and took a couple steps closer to everyone. "I'll be back in a couple days." He looked over everyone's face before locking back onto Haley. "Think you can hold down the fort for me until Gramps and I come back? Spud and Trixie should be able to give some help too."

"I can handle it!" Haley declared. The girl was twelve now and her hair was pulled back into a neat and high single ponytail. She tended to wear a pink shirt and white skirt with a pair of Mary-Janes.

Spud, Trixie, and Jake had all kept most of their same style, with the exception of Jake's current jacket being only red with dark red stripe accents near the zipper. All the kids had grown taller, especially because three of them had gone through puberty, though Jake was still a bit shorter than his two friends.

Jake flinched when his mother swooped in and planted a big kiss on his forehead. "Mooooom!"

"I can't help it, sweetie." Susan held her face with her hand. "I just can't believe how time flies."

"Imagine! Our first kiddie will be a junior in high school before you know it!" Jonathan declared exuberantly.

Jake snorted a bit. Though he was almost starting to feel a bit bittersweet from the emotions that were suddenly assaulting him, he shook his head and grinned. "Alright, alright! I've got to get going or the Council might change their mind about me!"

"The Mac-daddy needs to actually BE at the ceremony, right?" Trixie smirked at her friend.

Jake smirked back. "Word."

A few more goodbyes were said before Jake transformed into his dragon form and shot through the window. Though his dragon form was still thin, matching up with his specific dragon heritage, it had come to have a bit more bulk to it to match his growing human body. He wasn't quite like he was after his adventure with the Avemetrus, whom turned Spud and Trixie into old people and him into a twenty-one year old, but he could tell at this rate it was certainly in his near future.

Jake clutched his bag and flew towards his Grandpa's store.

zz

"You only get a few moments! So do hurry up, Jake!" Jake nodded quickly as he watched his Grandfather scurry around with Fu dog to lock up everything, magical and non-magical, that needed attending before his departure to Island of Draco. The teen turned and trotted over to a crystal ball that acted as a communication device.

He placed his hands on the object and focused. "Rose." After a few moments of the ball glowing a faint blue, he finally heard his girlfriend's beautiful voice come through.

"Jake!" She sounded so cheerful that Jake couldn't stop a smile from coming to his face. "Today's the day, huh?"

Jake rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, "Yeah, sure is."

"Congratulations, Jake. You've earned this and you deserve it."

Jake relaxed some, feeling touched by the girl's words. "Thanks Rose… God I miss you."

She giggled a bit, which was something she didn't do very often. "We saw each other a week ago for Spring Break."

"A week is far too long."

"Really turning up the charm are we Mr. Long?"

"Only for you."

"Well the good news is that I'll eventually be coming to America to go to the same college you've been looking at. We can also still visit each other until then. We've still got two Summer Breaks, Christmas Breaks, and another couple Spring Breaks until then too."

"I'll be counting the moments."

"Oh stop, you ham."

Jake grinned, just knowing she was smiling in amusement on the other end. "Never."

"JAKE!"

Jake flinched and looked over his shoulder. "Oops, duty calls. G, has sounded the 'We're going to be late because of you' alarm."

Rose let out a laugh. "Okay, I'll let you go." Jake heard a door open on Rose's side of the connection.

"Rose, dear? Who are you talking to?"

"Oh just a friend on the phone."

"Oh okay. Dinner will be ready soon."

The door shut again. "Sorry, that was my mom."

"Well, I don't want to keep you. I'll call again when we get back."

"Alright. Bye, Jake."

"Bye, Rose."

Jake then let his hands off the crystal ball and felt the connection fade. After two years, Rose hadn't told her family about their relationship or the memories Rose had reclaimed. Currently, they weren't sure what to do about it. They would keep anything about the magical world away from her family, which included evidence that Rose used to hunt said creatures. As for her relationship with human Jake? They weren't sure if the family would recognize him as the boy they had called the police on two years ago. It was something of a complicated mess. Both Spud and Trixie had actually been taking Jake's place at the airport when Rose was telling her parents she was meeting up with a few friends from her old school. Going to college together would be a nice rest from that stress, until eventually, if their relationship was going to progress, they'd have to meet Jake and the couple would have the hope he wasn't recognized.

"JAKE! Nǐ mǎ shàng gēn wǒ gǔn chū lái" (Get your butt out here now!)

Jake yelped and snatched up his bag before sprinting to the shop's entrance.

"It's easy to be distracted by a beautiful lady, Lao Shi! Am I right, kid? A Ga Goo!"

zz

"Remember to be respectable. You aren't a child anymore. They will not be as lenient from now on."

"Gramps, I know."

"Don't hide your hands in your pockets. Don't try to act over confident-"

"Gramps."

"Don't forget the words to the oath-"

"G!"

Jake saw his grandfather pause and blink at him. Jake gave the man a smile and then a hug. "I've got this."

Lao Shi's face fell a bit before a smile took over his features. "Ah… I see. I suppose I was just…"

"Having trouble letting go?" Fu dog questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Lao Shi narrowed his eyes at the dog. "Aiiyaah… Be quiet you!"

Jake chuckled a bit before releasing his master. "Let's get this over with, alright? Everyone can chillax once we get it out of the way."

Lao Shi nodded and put away the last of his things in their room in one of the temples on the isle. The small group of three then walked out and made their way to the meeting hall.

zz

Lao Shi felt a fine sheen of sweat start to form on his skin as the four dragon council members, Andam, Kukulkhan, Kulde, and Omina had a stare down with Jake.

"Are you ready to take the oath, Jacob Luke Long of the Shuǐjīng Lineage?" Andam put forward.

Jake nodded once as he spoke. "I am." Simultaneously Jake and the council members transformed into their dragon forms. Jake stretched his wings out and then let them rest at a neutral position. He watched as Andam, in his large purple dragon form, Kukulkhan, in his brown antlered dragon form, Kulde, in his maroon dragon form, and Omina, in her blue and thinner dragon form, move around the council table and step closer to Jake.

The teen took a quick breath and began to speak. "With my body I will shield the magical world, with my mind I shall be fair and just, with my all my spirit I pledge myself to the pursuit of peace among all of the Earth's creatures, both magical and non-magical. I Jacob Luke Long, do solemnly swear to this oath. If I should ever fall short of these things I have promised, then I shall surrender the dragon chi that rests within my soul." Jake bent slightly, dipping his wings and pulling back his ears a bit as he bowed.

After a moment of silence, Andam spoke again, "The council has heard your oath Jacob, and we agree to grant you dominion over the region known in this age as the United States of America. May your guardianship last for many years to come."

"Rise and brace yourself," Kulde concluded.

Jake came out of his bow and got only a couple moments before the chis of the Dragon Council members crashed into his own. He could feel channels in his body opening up and it was both exhilarating and painful. Jake grit his teeth and fought against arching his spine and throwing his head back in pain. Instead, he tried to focus on his training the last two years.

As he had entered into high school, the training had become more specialized and intense. Though his Grandfather had kept his word about lessing the load of his dragon duty schedule, the man had explained that the next step would be to get more good old fashioned experience. Originally, Jake had had lesson after lesson and technique after technique drilled into his head. Lao Shi had done this in order to make sure Jake knew the limits of every aspect of his body to the tiniest degree. He'd also tried his best to make sure Jake's knowledge and recall of magical artifacts and common potions and items had been nearly as easy to access. It was these two reasons that had caused his schedule to seem so hefty and repetitive in the past.

The new tasks had included some stents of extensive travel. Jake had been sent out to start handling more jobs outside of New York.

Near the Great Lakes, he'd had to clear out a horned snake nest that had grown too large as well as too close to a large non-magical town. These types of missions, had been difficult seeing as he'd needed to simply chase the creatures away from populated areas, rather than defeat or kill, seeing as the latter wouldn't really follow the whole protecting the magical world theme.

While still in the Great Lakes region, he'd helped a Werewolf that called himself Wulf out of a patch of Wolfsbane and some red flower which had cause him to give off red smoke and whine in pain. He'd wondered a bit about that experience for a while, since as far as he remembered, red smoke wasn't one of the signs of Wolfsbane poisoning. That was the time he'd learned from his Grandpa that not all ghosts were evil and the werewolf had in fact been harmed by the red flower known as Blood Blossom. The dragons now kept some in Lao Shi's shop as a part of his various potions and magical trinkets.

The most memorable mission had been to capture a large Mongolian Death worm that had taken a section of the Mohave Desert as its territory. He'd been tasked with wearing it down enough for some Giants to cage it and relocate it back into a Subterranean Desert known to provide suitable habitat for the creatures. It had been a long and drawn out battle and Jake had nearly been poisoned, electrocuted, or become worm food more than once due to pure exhaustion-induced mistakes.

Even more memories of the last few years flashed through his head, reminding him of just how much he'd grown as a dragon as well as as young man.

"We, the Dragon Council, present Jacob Luke Long, the American World Dragon."

Jake let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the chi from the other dragons pulled away and left his body feeling like jello. The teen controlled his desire to let out a sigh or a show of tiredness and nodded respectfully. "Thank you."

"Congratulations, Jake Long." Andam gave a rare smile. "We are expecting great things from you from this point on."

The dragons all transformed back into their human forms as Lao Shi and Fu dog walked up.

Kulde looked at Fu dog. "Have you been thinking about who would possibly make a good Animal Guardian for Jake?"

Jake looked down at Fu dog in thought. It had been decided early on that Fu dog acting as his Animal Guardian would only last as long as his tutelage under Lao Shi did. Fu dog was technically his grandfather's Animal Guardian and he'd simply become Jake's as a side effect of being taught about his duty by his grandfather. Now that he was practically on his own, he'd be given a new Animal Guardian. Jake could only hope he got someone good and not traitorous like Bananas B.

"I've been looking at a few different options and I think I've settled on one." Fu dog then looked at Jake. "I've set up a meeting in about a week's time."

Jake nodded quietly as the council members approved of things going smoothly.

The two groups were about to say their goodbyes and Jake, Lao Shi, and Fu dog were about to leave for their temporary quarters, when a portal opened up before all of them through the use of two clock hands. Two figures walked out, one looking much more familiar than the other.

Marty, the current Grim Reaper, pointed his scythe at Jake. "I have come for you, Jake Long!"

"Wait what!?" Jake tensed up and everyone was completely dead silent.

"Pffft! Ha ha ha ha! Just kidding you should've seen your face though! Ahhhh classic." Marty laughed and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Must you do that every time?" Jake tried to rest his beating heart as he took in the other figure which had just spoken. The being seemed to be some type of spirit, with a purple cloak that covered most of his body and hooded his head. A clock and several gears and mechanisms ran inside a glass case in the spirit's chest and watches were worn up and down his arms. He grasped a large staff in his right hand, which was topped with a smaller clock. Jake flinched when the being changed from the form of a young man to a child with buck teeth. "Jacob just went through quiet the strenuous process. You might at least try not to take advantage of that."

"Ah, Clockwork… you're no fun." Marty sighed.

"We are not here for fun."

Andam moved forward and Jake watched in surprise as the Dragon Council member bowed briefly as a show of respect. "Master Clockwork, what brings you here?"

Clockwork frowned before looking at Jake. Said dragon felt a shiver go down his spine from having to stare into the ghost's red pupil-less eyes. "I have seen… a vision of a terrible disaster."

"Yeah apparently something freaky. I was having a chat and playing chess with Clocky here and he suddenly stopped playing me and looked like he'd seen a ghost." Marty wiggled a boney brow and Clockwork shook his head.

"Why would you try to play chess with a Time Lord, Marty? You can't win." Fu dog snorted.

Marty grinned and looked at Clockwork, who sighed in exasperation. "Yeah, but he can't cheat Death."

"Martin… We have important business." Clockwork then slowly shifted into the form of an old man. He looked back at Jake. "Something terrible is going to happen. I can't tell any of you what it is or even hint at it yet. Normally I would not have to get involved in even something like this. There is however exceptions. In order for disaster to be hopefully avoided, a few things need to occur and the ball won't start the preverbal roll until you do me one favor."

Jake blinked and then nodded with slight determination. "Name it."

Clockwork gave a smile, that was eerily knowing. "I thought you'd say that." The being became a young man again as he waved his staff and a portal appeared.

There was a young man with white hair, green glowing eyes, and wearing a black and white suit of some kind. Jake watched in silence as the teen found himself stuck in some sort of trap. Something green and glowing was tangled about his right leg. After a while of him struggling, he was suddenly ambushed and attacked by a group of men in white dress suits and wielding strange weapons.

Jake looked up at Clockwork after the visage had disappeared. "What was that about?"

"That was Daniel James Fenton AKA Daniel James Phantom."

Andam rose a brow and then hummed. "The second Halfa."

"Whata?" Jake asked.

Fu dog coughed. "It's a somewhat new creature within the last half century. Something of a hybrid. It hasn't really been our jurisdiction."

"Why?" Jake asked.

"You must understand, young dragon. Most ghosts, which are not mere shades or wraiths are under a ruling of their own known as the Observants. It is their laws that the ghosts follow, not ours," Lao Shi explained calmly.

Jake furrowed his brows. "Wait, ghost? A Halfa is-"

"A half-ghost and no they aren't natural hybrids if you know what I mean," Fu dog joshed slightly.

Jake blinked. "Jacob." He looked up when he heard Clockwork address him.

"Daniel is my apprentice or at the very least I am his Guardian, though I can not often play a big role or even a meager role in his life. Those men are vicious towards ghosts and will no doubt let their bigotry blind them. They won't care if he starts to bleed crimson blood or if he shows signs of pain."

Jake felt the blood start to drain from his face. "Wait you mean-"

"They wish to understand how ghosts work. Daniel constantly fears the repercussions of being caught by humankind, even if, just like you, he is human as well to some degree. He has a family and friends, a life. The nightmares you've had before about being experimented on are about to become reality for my young charge."

Jake nodded. "You got it, Stopwatch. Where is he?"

Clockwork nodded, seemingly pleased. "Indiana, near Lake Eerie. He is currently stuck in that trap and in quite the sour mood, so try your best to ignore him if he gets snippy. You don't have much time. You might not make it there before they capture him and take him to their governmental facility."

"Where is _that_ place? Just in case."

"Thirty miles outside of Amity Park, Indiana."

Jake grabbed his chin in thought. "I might need Spud for something like this." He looked at Lao Shi. "I need to book it, G. I'll see ya in a couple days hopefully!" Lao Shi tried to shout after him but the teen had already transformed and flown away.

Lao Shi turned around and looked at Clockwork, with barely contained worry and irritation. "You know very well that he is weakened from the Chi ceremony with the Councilors here. That is why we were going to rest here for a whole twenty four hours before returning home."

"Lao Shi, he shall have help. This must be done."

Lao Shi sighed and pinched the bring of his nose. "Wǒ xīwàng rúcǐ." (I hope so.)

"Xiāng xìng nǐ de xué shēng." (Have faith in your pupil.) Clockwork murmured, causing Lao Shi to look up at him again and give a resigned nod.

"So wait that's it? I thought you were going to give us the juicy details, Clocky," Marty whined a bit. "What's got you so troubled? No offense against your apprentice but you wouldn't cause such a hullabaloo if it was just his life in danger."

Clockwork didn't change his facial expression even as he switched into the form of a child again. "You are right. It's not just that, but I can say no more. I worry that I've already done far too much."

Those still present, stood quietly, soaking in the ominous feelings behind Clockwork's tone.

zz

The clicking of clocks was the only things that reached his ears until his friend's voice piped in. "Now you've just got to talk to that kid from Norrisville, right?"

"Yes… I'm fairly certain the Nomicon has already sensed something is amiss though. It will not be too difficult to gain his attention." Clockwork glanced over at a time portal, watching as a massive blizzard consumed a landscape and ice started to form on palm trees. "The time is coming. I can only hope I have given them enough of a head start to prevent the inevitable."

Marty eyed the vision and thought he saw a flash of red feathers in the corner of the screen. His red eyes widened in their dark sockets. "Oh Hell. Is this what I think it is? My workload might be getting heavy, huh?"

Clockwork did not respond and let the silence of his Citadel answer his friend's questions.


	2. The Ninth Grade Ninja

**So here's my oneshot to celebrate finishing Randy Cunningham Ninth Grade Ninja.**

 **I was not expecting to fall in love with this show as much as I did. It's been a long time since I had a show that was cancelled which made me so sad. Hopefully it's not really cancelled and it's just been a long hiatus or something. I can dream, right?**

 **Much like Jake, We find ourselves at the end of Randy's Sophomore year. In my mind, both Season's of RC9GN took about two years together, seeing as there were a halloween double episode and a christmas double episode for each season and those doubles probably happened on the same day or very close together.**

 **This means Randy and Howard are 16.**

 **Let's begin…**

* * *

He was in that state of bliss where he'd had a really good sleep and had just started to naturally wake up. Because he also had nowhere to go and nothing to do, he could relish in the feeling until Howard rushed over and jumped on his bunk bed to wake him. It had been about a week or so since Evil Julian had almost destroyed Norrisville and Randy had ultimately stopped both him and the Sorcerer from their evil goals. Since then, he, or the Ninja, had gone around town helping people with repairs and soothing them of any lingering worries they had. After that, it had mostly been a few days of bliss along with Randy and Howard planning their Summer vacation, the first summer vacation in which they lived right next door to each other.

"Mmmmm…" He felt his purple hair peak out from under the covers at the same time his toes did at the other end. "No Sorcerer, no stankage, even McFist has been quiet since then, and no school. Maybe I died and went to heaven instead…" Then he heard it. It rapped against his ears, with what to most would be a gentle hum, but to the Ninja with his sensitive hearing, it was more like a buzzing of several insects. The humming originated from a certain ancient book from under his pillow.

He popped up and lifted his pillow to look and saw the book was glowing. "What the juice? What's up, Nomi?" He sat up off his stomach, letting the covers slide down to his army green boxers. He looked around and leaned down from the top bunk to lock his door before opening the book up and letting himself be shloomped in. "AhOof!"

zz

His body was still kinda asleep, so as a result he wasn't prepared to land properly and face planted into the floor of the dojo. His blanket floated down gracefully and covered him.

Randy groaned a bit and stood, wrapping the throw around his body. He winced when he saw some particularly stubborn bruises from his battle with Evil Julian and the Sorcerer; luckily they were fading some. The boy snapped out of his trance of thinking about the battle and the fear he'd felt and looked around for any sign of the Nomicon. "Hey, Nomicon! What's the big deal with waking me up? I was in the zone! Besides, don't I get at least a couple vacation days for defeating the Sorcerer?" Randy joked, trying to act smooth, when really he still wanted to curl up and take a breath before having to do any more heroing for a little bit.

He paused when a paper samurai appeared before him and drew his sword. _Now you must learn new lessons. Set aside time for further training._ Words scrawled through the air above the samurai in various hues and styles, passing around and over him to reach their destined locations. Randy blinked.

"What? But we defeated the Sorcerer and sealed away his balls- _that sounds funny_. Why do I need to train, except for in the case of McFist coming back for some weird reason?" Randy asked.

He didn't receive an answer for a moment, until eventually some more words wrote themselves in the air. _One of Nine._

"One of Nine? What the heck does that mean?" Randy murmured, actually genuinely a bit curious, until he noticed the Nomicon was about to kick him out. Mist started to gather around his ankles. "Wait! That's all you're going to say?" At his voice, the mist froze and at first Randy thought it was listening to him. After calling out the book's name though and receiving no response, Randy got worried and started looking around. It was then that he noticed it had gotten darker in the book. "Nomi?"

Suddenly the whole landscape shuttered and lurched. Randy started stumbling and reeling his arms, searching for balance, from having the earth below him suddenly shift. Soon after Randy found himself being rapidly ejected. Mist swirled around him in a frenzy and he was whisked away. "AAAAAHHHH! HEY!"

zz

Randy woke up to hearing pounding on the door. "Cunningham, you better open up!" The boy shook his head to clear it as much as possible, before leaning down to unlock the door. Howard was the one to walk inside and give his best-friend a glare. "Ah! You shoob! You're not even dressed yet!" Howard whined. The boy walked over to a pile of random clothes and tossed a t-shirt into Randy's face. "Hurry up! They're selling these new popsicles at PJ McFlubbusters and I wanna try one! They have an entire frozen banana in one of them. You even have to peel it once you lick down to the center. They've also opened up a new water-slide at Whoopee World, so bring your swim trunks."

Randy grinned excitedly. "Oh wait. Is it the New York Gator Simulator!?"

"Oh you better believe it!" Howard cried out enthusiastically.

"So. Honkin'. Bruce." Randy replied and lept from his bed, with the Nomicon in hand. He froze on his way to his closet to find a pair of pants, when he felt it shiver. "Huh?"

"No. No! No! No! Don't _huh_ me right now! We defeated the Sorcerer and McFist is donion rings, Cunningham!" Howard snapped and tried to make a grab for the book.

"Whoa, wait!" Randy yelped and used his height to hold the book out of Howard's reach. "Nomi's been acting weird this morning. Apparently there's more lessons I need to learn and then it said some weird thing about _One of Nine_."

Howard pouted. "Does this face look like one that cares?"

Randy blinked and watched as Howard pointed to his displeased face. "Uhhh…"

Howard was distracted slightly when he visibly saw the book tremble. "Uh, what the juice is up with it? Is it _trembling_?"

Randy frowned, sensing that Howard was distracted enough and lowered it so he could look at it himself. "I'm… not sure." Randy tried to open it and found to his shock, he couldn't. "Huh, what!? I can't open it!" He worked hard to try and use all of his finger strength to peel the book open, but to no avail.

"Seriously?" Howard asked.

They watched as it trembled again.

"It kinda feels… cold?"

"Can a book get sick?" Howard asked. "Shnasty, boogers between the pages."

Randy blank faced. "Really?"

"What!? We are talking about a magical and ancient book that transports you inside of it." Randy froze and then chuckled slightly in nervousness. Howard saw Randy then look down at the book and pass his hand over it's surface with a worried expression on his face. "Look, okay, you can bring the dumb book. Just don't ruin my day, got it? Besides, you can't even figure out what's wrong until it lets you open it again."

Randy sighed and nodded. "Alright, thanks buddy."

"You so owe me…" Howard muttered as Randy continued his trip over to his closet.

"I'll buy your popsicle!" Randy shouted from within.

"You were going to do that anyway!" Howard shouted.

"Uh… two popsicles?" The taller teen offered, somewhat obliviously.

"There we go," Howard replied with satisfaction.

zz

It was after a couple days had passed that something different finally happened. Because of how long it had been since the Nomicon would let him in the book, Randy had begun to freak out. Howard, both wanting to prevent his best-friend and ticket to free food from having a mental breakdown, tried to distract Randy with video games.

It was during their playthrough of Grave Punchers Seven Maximum Drive Version, that the Nomicon suddenly jumped up and started _hopping_ towards Randy. The two boys had heard the racket of the book falling off of Randy's table, jumped to their feet to face it as it approached, and yelped when it continued jumping towards them.

"What the actual JUICE!?"

"What is it doing?" Randy asked nervously.

"How the heck should I know?" Howard declared. As it grew closer, Howard shoved Randy forward. "Take him!" Randy let out a noise of surprise and stumbled forward before tripping.

"Oh, I'm getting you for tha-" Randy didn't get to finish before the Nomicon leapt at him, opened, and smacked him right in the face, shloomping him on contact.

Howard listened as Randy started to drool and groan quietly. He slapped his hands together. "Time to get a snack." The red-head then marched out of the room to raid the Cunninghams' fridge.

zz

Randy found himself face to face with the First Ninja and Plop Plop, both of them in the tradition wear he always saw them in. "First Ninja? Plop Plop? What the heck is going on!?" The boy waved his arms frantically. The current Ninja was a mixture of worry and irritation; he just wished that for once the darn book would just be blunt and to the point with him.

The First Ninja sighed and removed his own mask. Red light glowed around him as his suit untangled itself from his body and left him in his casual clothes from the 1200s. "Come, walk with me, Randy."

Plop Plop waved them off as Randy followed after the elder Ninja. Randy looked at him as they walked. "Um… First Ninja?"

"I never told you my name, did I?" The First Ninja looked behind him and nodded slightly. "It's Shi Yūsha. I was the fourth oldest brother of the Nine."

"Shi…" Randy spoke, letting the name roll off his tongue. He folded his arms. "Uh thanks!"

"Of course."

After another moment of silence, they reached the multiple terraced waterfall and Shi sat, offering Randy a place to sit in front of him.

"I'm sure you're wondering what's been going on with the Nomicon…"

"Yeah! Like what was with the shaking and the kicking me out for a few days!?" Randy asked, loosing a bit of his patience.

"To be honest, I don't know."

"Dwhaaaat?" Randy babbled, his face showing a bit of nervous worry. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

Shi hummed. "Even though the Nomicon is mostly built around the memories and knowledge of the past ninjas, there is still a separate entity, something other, that binds the book together, a spine if you will. It is it's own presence and has its own mind. Even I do not know everything that it teaches and thinks about."

Randy's mouth dropped open a bit before he closed it, pondering over this new information a bit before he was ready to speak again. "Wait, then why are we talking if you don't know what's going on?"

Shi nodded. "It has told me of one job it wishes you to do, until it decides to tell you about whatever else it wishes to divulge to you."

"Oh, okay, spill it!" Randy urged, gesturing with his hands.

"You must go to Lake Eerie in Indiana. There you will find a bright soul in need of your aid."

Randy waited and then frowned when silence continued to permeate the air. "Wait that's all? Who am I looking to save? What part of Lake Eerie?"

"That was all that I was told. I'm sorry, Randy."

Randy sighed and then shrieked in surprise when a wave of water from the waterfall's pool washed up on shore and spirited him out of the book.

Shi blinked and then let out a breath, before looking around. "One of Nine… I guess he really is the one you've been waiting for…" The elder ninja felt the landscape rumble slightly. Shi watched as snow began to fall and fierce winds began to blow. "Ugh!" Shi stood up and tried to block some of the snow and wind from getting in his face. After a moment it stopped and the ninja opened his eyes and looked around, feeling snow slough off his shoulder. Finally, Shi happened to look down and observed a single red feather on a patch of snow in front of him.

zz

"Uuuuuuhhhh…" Randy groaned and sat up. He flinched, still on edge, when he heard a sharp slurping noise. Randy whipped his head around and eyed his best friend.

"Took you long enough. So what's up?" Howard asked, stopping from eating his bag of chips and taking another long sip from a soda can he had.

Randy rubbed his eyes and head. "I still don't know. Shi says that the Nomicon won't even tell him straight answers. Supposedly, the Nomicon has it's own mind that even all the past Ninjas aren't aware of."

"Shi?"

"Oh right, that's the First Ninja's name, apparently."

"Pfft, that's a dumb name. It's not even funny, like Plop Plop." Howard stuffed another handful of chips in his mouth.

Randy hummed, and didn't notice when his hand rested on the Nomicon. Suddenly he got a surge of emotions, annoyance, then fear, then terror beyond anything he could remember, though there were a couple of choice memories that came close. The boy leapt up.

"Rahndie?" Howard asked with a full mouth, not noticing the chip fragments falling from his mouth.

"I've got to go, Howard. The Nomicon has sent me on a mission to save someone that needs my help, like now!" Randy answered in a panic.

"Wait not another quest thingy again, right?"

"Don't worry. You're not coming."

"Oh ha ha, good… Wait, why not?" Howard asked, seemingly miffed at being not included, even if he didn't want to go in the first place.

"You have to cover for me. I've got to travel to Indiana and even with Ninja strength and stamina it will take a couple of days to get there on foot from Maryland."

"How the heck am I supposed to cover for you?" Howard groaned.

"I'm going to 'accidentally' leave my phone at home after I tell my mom I'm going camping with you. You can even visit Accordion Dave or Bucky to make it even better of a cover-up!" Randy expressed.

"And when you're mom calls at anytime I'm supposed to tell her you're there and doing well, without the others noticing anything weird?" Howard asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Pleeeeease, Howard. This person really needs help!" Randy whined and gave his best friend the best puppy dog eyes he could manage.

"Mmm…" Howard hummed in annoyance. After another couple of seconds he groaned. "OKAY! Okay, fine. I'll do it, but you SO owe me double time!"

Randy grinned in triumph.

zz

"So Randy had to stay home?" Dave asked calmly as he stuck his marshmallow over the fire pit.

"Yeah, he'll be able to come next time…" Howard trailed off, trying to find the chocolate he wanted to add to his smores.

"Bummer…" Bucky hummed. "He's not going to try and sabotage our attempt to hang out again, right?"

"No… Promise. Randy gave his blessing-" Howard paused when his phone rang. "One moment. My mom's calling." The red-head zipped off, looking at the caller ID to see Mrs. Cunningham's name. "Oh dude, you SO SO owe me."

zz

Randy, now as the Ninja, leapt from tree to tree before stopping on a branch and pulling out a map of the United States. "Hmmm… So north and a little west… but mostly west." Randy grumbled as he pulled something else from his suit, showing it to be a compass. "Okay, which way is west." The needle wobbled and swung to point north. "I really miss my phone…" Randy then pocketed all the items and dove from the branch, using his scarf to catch another and swing up into a spin above the tree-tops.


	3. The Ghost Boy

So here's the last of these little one shots. I think most importantly, I want people to tell me how well I wrote the characters from American Dragon: Jake Long and Randy Cunningham Ninth Grade Ninja now that I've watched all of both. My first test was my oneshot called Alektorophobia and I wrote that before I had watched either (at that point I'd only watched Danny Phantom). So I want to know if I've improved, if I've captured their specific humor and feel of the show. Tell me anything I might have missed in regards to their characters and interactions, if you don't mind. :)

So without further ado, let's see what Danny's up to with this short intro into his crews' point of view.

Oh and for timeline stuff, This story and the full story will begin (for the Phantom crew) a few days after Reality Trip. All episodes after that will be AU and I will adapt them to how I see fit. It's kinda the same for Randy, seeing as it didn't get completed, so his and Danny's stories will be continuing at the same time, AU versions of Danny's cannon episodes and my interrelation of what could've happened with Randy's show. Jake's kinda along for the ride since his job kinda never ends. He'll get love though.

* * *

"And bring down this firewall… here…" Tucker murmured. "Cover my tracks…"

Danny tapped his barefoot against his carpet as he waited for Tucker to get into the Guys in White's files. After their experience with the government agency when Danny's secret was ousted to the world, they had decided that they needed to take them more seriously. So after some long discussions and a few brief debates, they had decided to let Tucker hack into their database every so often, so they could know ahead of time, what to expect from the agents in the future. Sam snorted.

"Can you not narrate?"

Tucker glared over his shoulder. "Can you hack into a highly secure government database?"

Silence.

"Then until you can, I think I'd like to narrate."

Danny and Sam looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"Annnnnnndd… Done." Sam and Danny moved closer to look over Tucker's shoulders. "Let's see what they've done recently…"

"Well?" Danny asked.

"Hmm… There's a couple of blueprints on net guns that are newish, mostly due to accuracy and net-size increase adjustments. They're putting up a poll regarding renaming the White Fang tracking devices- _shocker_. Oh… well that doesn't look good."

"What!?" Danny and Sam asked at the same time, with concern in their voices.

"They've been trying to bring back Blood Blossoms using DNA analysis of related species and what few fossil specimens they do have. We'll have to watch out for that to see if they actually succeed in developing equipment that utilizes Blood Blossoms."

"Great. I guess we need to tell my parents to work double time on figuring out how to deal with that type of poisoning. Too bad they don't have any samples to study." Danny groaned in annoyance. That was another thing all of Team Phantom was trying to get used to, the idea that Danny's parents were now in on the big secret. He had made the last minute dicision to let them keep their memories of his other self. He was slowly introducing them to everything he and his friends and sister had been through, but it was a slow process. The good news was that, they loved him, just as his father had said and they were trying their best to make up for lost time.

"At least your dad has that old journal from one of his ancestors that talks about the flowers, so they're not treading completely blind," Sam pointed out. "They also built a Ghost Zone Portal somewhat blindly too."

"True." Danny then let out a resigned sigh. "Anything else?"

"Uhhhhh… Wait! There's one more thing. I almost missed it because it was in a folder that stored minor schedule changes, like day to day stuff. They've changed the schedules for some of their agents to include periodic trips to Lake Eerie."

"Why would they want to visit there of all places?" Sam mused, leaning back in order to try and think.

Tucker adjusted his glasses as he read the notice. "It says they're checking traps…"

"Checking traps?" Danny asked in utter confusion, a moment before his, Sam's, and then Tucker's eyes went wide with realization.

"WULF!" The trio exclaimed at the same time. They had found out recently, that Wulf liked the Lake Eerie area and had told them that he had a cave there when they'd last seen him in the Zone. So far Walker hadn't tried anything yet, but they were expecting trouble from him sometime in the future.

"What should we do?" Sam questioned, looking at the others. "It's only a matter of time before Wulf gets caught. He hangs out there a lot."

"I'll just have to go warn him real quick. They aren't scheduled to be at the lake now, right?" Danny answered and then asked, transforming into Phantom.

"Well, no, but what about us?" Tucker asked.

"I'll be back before you know it. I'll just go warn Wulf to stay away from there. Then I'll hightail it back and we can go back to chilling and having a good first weekend of Summer game-o-thon." Danny smiled.

"And your parents?" Sam questioned.

"I'll be fine. They're busy in the lab anyways."

"But there are traps set out there and you don't even know what they look like," Sam countered.

"Look, I'll even bring my phone incase something bizarre happens," Danny expressed, swiping his cell from his bedside table.

"Which is almost always the case," Sam grumbled.

"Chill a litte, Sam. Danny just beat Freakshow for a second time a couple days ago. I don't think we have that bad of luck," Tucker expressed, deleting lingering files and evidence from his laptop. Danny and Sam both stared at him. "Oh what? Not the bad luck Tuck thing again! Come on! I am not bad luck."

Danny sighed and looked at Sam. "I'll be careful. I'll be in and out and I'll bring my phone and use it if so much as a twig snaps, okay?"

Sam frowned at him for a long time. "Fine. Get out of here, Ghost boy."

Danny saluted, "Yes, ma'am."

"Pfft."

He was then gone before they could blink. Tucker shut his laptop and gave a purposeful look toward Sam, who only rose her eyebrow. "Getting awfully protective of a certain Fenton boy are we?"

Sam glared at the geek. "He's my best friend, why wouldn't I worry?"

"Just admit it to me flat out. You love him or like him a hella lot. I'm also curious as to when this started happening. You know, you're side of the story? Even if I knew it was happening from the start." Tucker finished and rested his chin in the palm of his hand and eyed Sam like a cat would eye a canary.

Sam wasn't going to fall for it. "So what, you could imagine your life without him?"

This of course, Tucker wasn't expecting. "What? Well, no, but-"

"No buts."

Tucker pouted. "You can't keep deflecting me forever." They stared at each other for a few moments longer. "You ready for your butt to get handed to you in Mario Party four or five?"

Sam paused. "Why only four or five?"

"Because they're the only two I brought over for the sleepover and they're my two _favorite_."

Sam grinned in determination. "You're on."

zz

After about five minutes of flying, Danny found himself around the edge of Lake Eerie, it was a small lake that was in-between Lake Erie and the rest of Indiana. It had gotten it's comical name from being the go to place for camping and fishing for Amity Park residents and for it's closeness to the larger Lake Erie. That and it was also spooky as hell at times.

The hybrid looked around, trying to orient himself and remember where Wulf had said his cave was. He flew a bit east and eventually came across a small bluff of rocks and stone, which had a cave in the side of it. Danny floated down in front of the entrance and cupped one hand near his mouth. "Wulf? Wulf, vi tie?" (Wulf? Wulf, are you there?). After several minutes, Danny was going to call out again, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Amiko Danny?" (Friend Danny?). Wulf bounded through the undergrowth behind the ghost boy and stopped before standing up on his back legs and walking forward. The werewolf was still wearing his green hoodie and Danny could see joy reflecting in his eyes when he spotted the ghost boy.

"Uhhh… One sec…." Danny racked his brain, trying to remember some of the lessons Tucker had been teaching him. "Vi devas forlasi." (You need to leave).

"Kial?" (Why?). Wulf asked and then cocked his head.

"Errrmmm…" Danny desperately tried to find words. He ended up having to pause between each sentence in order figure out what to say for the next one. "Eria Lago estas danĝera. Blankaj viroj metis por vi. Forlasi por la momento kaj mi diros al vi, kiam ĝi estas sekura." (Lake Eerie is dangerous. White Men have set traps for you. Leave for now and I will tell you when it's safe.) Danny sighed in relief. "I totally deserve extra credit points in Spanish for this."

"Jes. Mi vizitos amikon Danny hejmo en posta tempo." (Yes. I will visit friend danny's home at a later time.) Danny tried to open his mouth to stop Wulf, but the werewolf ghost had already jumped into a portal he'd created to the Ghost Zone.

"Great, how will I explain a visiting ghost werewolf to mom and dad? So long as they don't shoot him on sight." Danny grumbled. He turned and walked a couple steps, readying himself for take-off, when he heard a terrible noise.

 _Ghost detected within range. Deploying._ Just moments after Danny's feet had left the ground, a green whip of energy lashed out and wrapped around his right ankle, similar to a lasso. Then came the electricity. Danny let out a tortured scream before slamming into the earth. The current stopped, so that meant it was likely only used to help stun the captured ghost. Danny lifted his head and followed the cord down to a flat silver disc. He groaned and pulled himself up and tried to dust himself off before walking over to look at the trap he was in.

He then tried blasting it, flying fast and hard enough to break it, he was even desperate enough to change back into human form and see if the device would simply let him go. No such luck. "Great. Just great." After changing back into his ghost form, Danny reached into the pocket he kept various items in when he was a ghost and pulled out his phone, only to find out it had been fried by the initial electric shock. "Oh no. No no no…"

Danny groaned in a mix of irritation and barely contained fear. He glanced down at the disc again and observed something that caused his stomach to drop. There was a blinking red light flashing from where the cord was attached. It was probably a signal of some kind and if that were the case, then that meant the Guys in White were already on their way.

For the first time Danny could remember, he let out a noise of distress and fear that wasn't too characteristic of him. He then started to desperately yank and pull at the cord. "Clockwork, help me!" The plea left his lips even as visions that should only ever stay in someone's nightmares started to become more and more real and possible in Danny's mind.

zz

After nearly two hours of fear clawing at his stomach due to anticipation, Danny was starting to really loose his cool. He was running out of time, fast. Even at the sounds of squirrels scurrying about, Danny would flinch and look around, all while still trying to break the dumb rope that held him captive.

Then he happened to notice something. The red light had stopped blinking. Was that somehow Tucker's doing? Did they know he needed help? Or where they still waiting just a bit longer for him to show up for video games and the Guys in White were simply minutes from walking up on him first?

"Hey! You okay?"

"Whoa, dude he's all glowy but it's a nice kinda glowy, ya know?"

"What the juice!? Who-WHAT are you!?"

At that moment, a strange red scaled dragon with a beanie wearing boy riding on his back, a masked kid that had a crumbled map in his hand, and a ghost boy trapped by a ghost snare all saw the people and creatures assembled and started to gap at each other like idiots for different individual reasons.

* * *

 **So there we have it. That's the end of my Prequel/Preview thing. Tell me what you think of the characters and how I portrayed them in each oneshot if you'd like. I'm hungry for you're feelings on how I did with the peeps from Jake's and Randy's shows most importantly. These one shots will eventually be adapted/rewritten for the full story and how the secret trio meet in that story. Some things will stay the same and others will change, especially the pace and such. Also what do you think about the first touch of my AU third season of Danny Phantom, you know having Danny's parents remember his secret instead of having their memories erased with everyone else by the Reality Gauntlet? So yeah, tell me what you think.**

 **Sorry that each part got a bit shorter with each fandom. I believe this happened because of the timeline I've set up. Danny's just off of Reality Trip, so there's not much to catch readers up to there and Randy had just finished up with Evil Julian and the Sorcerer. For Jake though, two entire years have passed since Hong Kong Longs in my timeline, so there was a lot more I had to flesh out and catch people up on in his oneshot. I hope that's not too big of an issue.**

 **That be all.**

 **~NoSignal**


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